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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Essay on Farming

Essay on Farming

When society today thinks of farms they typically think of mom and dad waking up to the rooster crowing, fields filled with hand planted crops and cows grazing in open pastures. This fairytale farm story is far from reality. In the early 1920's farmers discovered that when adding vitamins A and D to the feed of animals they would no longer require exercise and sunlight in order to grow(Factory Farming). From this point on farmers began keeping larger amounts of animals on the same size farms. As time has gone on, farmers have realized many different methods of producing bigger crops and more meaty animals.

The debate grows heated as each side battles trying desperately to have their views heard. Farming industries are defending their practices of creating revenue through large scale farms. Wether it is through huge chicken, cattle, pig, or crop farms, supporters of this industry feel they are going about their business in the best way possible. On the other hand activist argue the majority of these large companies are merely ‘factory farming’. Recently these tactics of farming have begun to be considered inhumane by several opponents of what activists call factory farming, the process in which animals are treated no longer as animals but as food producing machines and crops are produce for the soul purpose of revenue(Factory Farming). Are these large farms in fact ‘factory farms’? And if so, should this process of ‘factory farming’ continue?

Around the world this clashing of opinions produces many different views on what is the right, moral or most ethical approach to farming. The farming industry believes in their process of large scale farming or big business production. Large farms are one of the world’s largest industries. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, researcher of many different aspects of the farming industry, “farming has grown into a $15.6 billion dollar industry world wide.” In the United States alone there are an estimated 1.91 million farms (Mercola). Over the years many of the small mom and pop farms have found in nearly impossible to compete with these large farms. In the last twenty years the average size of existing farms has grown from 451 acres to 653 acres (Bayer). These astronomical increases in farm sizes are a direct result of large farms becoming increasingly popular, beneficial and even more so, efficient.

In addition to large farming becoming one of the worlds largest industries, supporters also feel another benefit to large farming is its regulation. In research by Peter Rosset, it was found that, “ninety-percent of the nations poultry production is controlled by ten companies.” The USDA is responsible for monitoring meat and poultry production in the United States, along with many other responsibilities. Meat and poultry qualities are then graded on a scale of A through D, grade A being the highest quality possible. The benefits of having so few companies involved in the nations poultry production, and in many cases all other types of meat, is obvious. It is much easier to regulate a small group of farming companies than a nation full of hundreds even thousands of small farms. In turn with such a limited number of farms suppling the entire nation, the people of the United States, as the customer, can be sure they know exactly what they are purchasing. Not only does it benefit the customer to know what they are purchasing, in addition, the United States government provides subsidies to large farms. Dr. Mercola states, “Large farms receive nearly twice as much in government payments [subsidies] as do small farms.” Through these large farms receiving such a large portion of the government subsidization they are able to use this extra income to in turn provide the nation with the cheapest food costs in the world. Almost any person in the United States can find it possible to eat a steak if he or she chooses. This is not the case around the world. In fact, in some countries it is nearly impossible to eat meat at all.

Another benefit of large scale farming is that which it brings to the areas these farms are located. There are two ways for a large farm to get started. First a company can buy rural land and start a farm. Or second, a company can purchase an existing small farm and begin expanding upon it. Whichever method is decided on the benefits will be seen immediately. “Farms are vital to the economy,” explains Rosset. From the time a large farm begins jobs are available. When establishing a large farming industry in a rural community you need workers from day one. Wether it is to build the barns, silos, prepare the fields or design plans for the building, jobs are created from the start. Not to mention in most cases these industries develop a new town which creates hundreds of jobs due to lack of supply and increased demand. A community begins to develop in all aspects as a result of one company needing hundreds of employees.

Many benefits come from the continuation of large scale farming. Supporters place their values in supporting the global economy, the regulation of large industry, dependability of what already exists, and the continued development of the individual. On the other hand there are activists of factory farming. Activists of factory farming have quite different values. They value animal rights, human safety, environmental conservation. With these values in mind, people and organizations who are opposed to large farming believe factory farming should not continue.

As societies views on what is appropriate change, so do many peoples opinions of what is politically incorrect. Animal rights are among top issues of people speaking up for those who cannot do so for themselves. The opponents of factory farming feel one of the most important reasons why such a process should not continue is that animals in these factory farms are being treated inhumanly. Celeste Cgovern, a well-known activist against the large farming industry stresses, “Animals on today’s factory farms are stripped of all that is enjoyable and natural to them and treated as nothing more than meats, eggs, and milk producing machines.” Cgovern is referring to the concept that in many cases in the food industry “animals today [ that are] raised on factory farms have their genes manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals to encourage high productivity” (IDAUSA). There are many others opposed to factory farming who continually lobby congress trying to provoke some kind of a change. The Humane Society of The United States (HSUS) has an extensive web site devoted solely to factory farming. Claims can be found there stating twenty to thirty thousand chickens can be found crammed onto the floor of a building 40 feet by 500 feet. The HSUS also claims on hen farms, used to produce eggs, nearly “50 percent of new-hatched chicks are males who are killed a day or two after hatching.” These new-hatched chicks are simply killed because they are not needed. This is only one reason why opponents of factory farming feel this process should be ended.

Another major problem associated with factory farming is that these farms facilitate the spread of disease. Through over crowding and major doses of antibiotics and other chemicals not only do these factory farmed animals contract disease much easier, it has also been found in some cases to spread to humans. A great example of this process is the infamous Mad Cow disease. Mad Cow disease began in cows and eventually through the use of large scale farming spread amongst a population. These cows had been raised to be slaughtered and sold in grocery stores across the country. The USDA had to recall thousands of pounds of beef from hundreds of stores around the nation because the fear that some of these cows possibly might have contracted the Mad Cow disease.

Factory farms profit from increasing sales. If it is possible to fit more animals in less space, than factory farms are saving money. The problem arises due to the lack of cleanliness of these factories. Three million animals are killed every hour in the United States alone (Cgovern). In many cases the housing units for chickens, hens, turkeys and cows are only cleaned out every two or three years. This produces bodily waste build up and extreme levels of ammonia and other hazardous gases. Now add the chemicals the animals are given to accelerate growth and opponents say these conditions are unhealthy and in many cases “thousands of animals die every month as a result of unexplained illness” (Factory Farming).

Opponents of factory farming also feel that in addition to the inhumane treatment animals and the spread of disease, these farms also are a major source of water and air pollution. In a time when more and more focus is being put on the conservation of our country, opponents of factory farms believe “Federal legislation on factory farms has been sparse” (Hattam). In most cities and towns there are laws requiring the treatment of human waste before it can enter into the water supply. This is not the case concerning animal waste. One hog produces four times as much waste as the average human (Bayer). Opponents feel the wastes from these factory farmed animals are, in many cases, being dumped into local water supply. If it does happen to be treated much of the pollutants are seeping into the soil through run offs and into the air through improper ventilating systems of the animal housing facilities. When waste seeps into drinking water supplies, it causes severe public health threats. “The United States Environmental Protection Agency tests show that in 17 states fecal streptococci and fecal coliform bacteria can be found in groundwater from animal manure” (Bayer). Legislation is currently being proposed, by senators in Iowa and Illinois along with representatives in California, to mandate some types of regulations on animal waste treatment (Hattam).

Although battles continue amongst supporters of large farming and opponents of what they call factory farming it seems as though no resolution is in the near future. Other possibilities exist besides large farms such as organic farming but it seems as if cost to begin organic farms might be to expensive for now. The is hope however. With conservation and environmental protection being a major issue in the world today only a series of small events or perhaps a catastrophic one might be all that is need to answer the question, should the process of ‘factory farming’ continue.

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